Hold Me Tight
by KamuiSakurai
Summary: Something weird happens in Ukiyoe town. Yokais are being defeated by a strange person who turns out to be a human girl? Nura Gumi is facing a mystery and their Sandaime together with Itaku try to find the answer to it. What will happen? -on hiatus-
1. Strange Behaviour

**1. Strange Behaviour**

It was already dark outside. Only a few humans were still on the streets, mostly people who didn't have a reason to go home and get some sleep. But unknown to them, there were other creatures there at that time of day. Creatures, one only heard of in tales in their childhood. Yokai. Normaly there won't be any incidents between humans and yokai here in Ukiyoe town, because there was one special family which was in control of the life in the shadow, the Nura Gumi. But today wasn't normal, there where more strange activities from yokai which doesn't belong to one family of the Nura Gumi Alliance. That was the reason why he was there tonight together with his 'teacher'.

"Hey come on Itaku. If we don't hurry the fun will be gone and you will be stuck with me in that sticky room back in the main house.", shouted a young boy or should I say a young yokai with long hair, white on top and black at the bottom, and crimson eyes. He wore a traditional black kimono covered by a dark blue cloak, his sword Nenekirimaru by his waist.

"I still don't get it. Why am I supposed to follow you around when you do your duty as the Sandaime? I was only supposed to teach you how to fully get control over your fear.", his 'teacher', a boy with dark and lighter brown hair and brown eyes said. He wore a red headband, black trousers, white shirt and a blue cloak, his weapons, sickles, at his back.

"Oh come on. I know you like some action, don't you? And we still got time before Seimei returns from hell so don't worry about my training.", the other teen said.

The boy who's named Itaku sighed in defeat. After all he had to follow what the Shodaime said that were his orders from Akagappa, the leader of Tono village. As he followed his 'student' towards the district they were informed about he could feel that something unexpected will happen.

* * *

><p>As both of them arrived at the location, they were supposed to help the yokai of Nura Gumi against some other yokai who attacked humans without knowing that they were in Nura Gumi's territory. But all they saw were crumbled parts of nearby buildings, fallen garbage cans and beaten up yokai from both sides, yokai who belonged to Nura Gumi and those who doesn't. But the most strange thing was the only person who was still standing, was a human, moreover a girl at least fifteen years old.<p>

As she realized that the two of them had arrived she let go of the yokai that she still held onto. Said yokai was the leader of the foreign yokai who attacked humans. Rikuo and Itaku stared in disbelieve at the scene that was shown in front of them.

"What happened here?", Rikuo asked no one in particular.

The girl who only looked at the newcomers grinned and said something ridiculous to their ears.

"I beat them up."

Rikuo stared at her and saw some splashes of blood on her cheek. Itaku who wasn't used to see humans among yokai was even more surprised when he realized that what she said was true.

"Why did you do this?", he asked sternly.

Her dark gaze wandered from Rikuo to Itaku who shivered a bit when he saw that a human can be so frightful.

"They started it. I didn't want to beat them up but they just didn't stop to attack me and when even more of them came I had enough.", she explained in a monotonous voice. She then turned around and started to walk away.

"Hey!...", Itaku started to shout in her direction but was cut off by Rikuo who gestured to let it drop.

"She's a human. Even if she had done this, we're not going to start a fight with her.", he explained. After the decision the Sandaime has declared, they both helped the yokai from Nura Gumi and tied up the others. Soon they were finished and returned to the main house after treating the wounded and checked that they would be fine on their own.

* * *

><p>"Welcome back, Sandaime." Rikuo was greeted at the entrance by the guards standing there. "Yo. How's it been here?", he asked them.<p>

"Nothing suspicious.", they replied.

Rikuo and Itaku entered the house and walked towards the dojo beneath the living area.

"Back to training, Rikuo.", Itaku exclaimed as they both entered said dojo.

* * *

><p>Soon the sun rised and Rikuo turned to his human form and Itaku to his weasel form.<p>

"Let's take a break about 5 minutes.", the weasel yokai said before stepping out of the room. Rikuo was left there alone and thought about what had happened the night before.

'It's strange. I always thought that human were weaker than yokai. How did that girl last night beat up all those yokai on her own?'

While thinking about this, he didn't realize that his grandfather, Nurarihyon, had entered through the shoji door.

"What are you thinking about Rikuo?", he asked his grandson who appeared to be deep in thoughts.

At the sudden voice appearing behind him Rikuo turned around to look at the small figure of his grandfather.

"Nothing in particular. Itaku and I just strumbeled across a human who beat up a bunch of yokai and I was thinking if that would even be possible for a normal human.", he explained. His grandfather seemed to think about what he just said because his left hand where resting under his chin in a thinking position.

"I don't think that it is not possible but not usual of course. If there really was such a human, he must be really skilled in combat.", he said with his hand still attached to his chin.

"But it really is strange. During my life I never have met a human like that. Maybe you should look for that human and tell him not to do such reckless things. Even if he could beat up a few smaller yokais if it comes to yokai like our family's generals he wouldn't stand a chance.", he said again before turning to the door.

Rikuo was again left alone in the dojo and thought about his grandfathers words when Tsurara entered the dojo and exclaimed that if he didn't hurry up he would be late for school. After hearing that he stood up, ran to his room, changed into his school uniform and left for school forgetting to tell Itaku about his leave.

Meanwhile Itaku was standing at the door of an empty dojo with a vein popped out on his forehead. 'Rikuo~ Where the hell did you run off to?', he thought angrily.


	2. My Senpai Is the Culprit

**2. "My Senpai Is the Culprit!"**

Rikuo and Tsurara ran as fast as they could to school.

"Say, Tsurara, where's Aotabou?", Rikuo asked the ice maiden.

"He went ahead of us, in case we need his help.", she answered.

' 'Help'? For what?', he asked himself mentally.

* * *

><p>When they reached the school gates, they saw that the student council who were in charge of the gate, were about to close them. They speed up a little to reach the school before they wouldn't be able to enter, when they saw a huge boy walking up to the students who closed the gate. He started to talk to them and somehow was able to distrat them enough for Rikuo and Tsurara to slip through without being noticed.<p>

They ran past him and Rikuo gave him a grateful look.

'That's what Tsurara meant by 'help'.', he thought, feeling a bit guilty.

He reached his classroom only seconds before his teacher. Silently he walked up to his seat and laid his head on his table. He sighed before he sat straight up and started to listen to his teacher.

After morning classes ended, his friends came up to him.

"Are you alright Nura-kun? It's unusual for you to be almost late for classes.", Maki said while eyeing the chocolate haired boy who again was resting his head on his table.

"Yeah, I'm alright. I just overslept.", he answered.

His friends knew that he wouldn't just oversleep. There had to be something behind it but since he didn't tell them by himself, htey didn't ask. Well, except one.

"For you to oversleep, is something that never occurs without a reason, Nura-kun. Could you have been looking for yokai last night?", Kiyotsugu, the yokai maniac, asked his friend.

"No, I just couldn't fall asleep last night and I don't know why so I can't tell you guys.", he told them.

With this answer they didn't ask anymore.

"Well then, let's start our meeting. I've recieved a lot of information on yokai..." and like that Kiyotsugu started to talk about their new project.

Rikuo, like most of them, didn't listen to him, instead he thought about last night and the human he encountered with Itaku.

'Shit! Itaku! I completely forgot about him!', he thought shocked, almost standing up in the process.

'Well, I'll explain to him later why I suddenly vanished.'

He looked out of the window.

* * *

><p>Outside, he saw several students eating their bentos while talking with others. His eyes fell on a girl who sat on a bench under a tree on her own. He observed her and noticed that every girl who passed her looked at her before hurrying away with a weird expression on their faces. He looked closer and saw into the face he saw last night when he went out to handle some stray yokai.<p>

He looked shoked out of the window, not letting his eyes off of the girl.

"Rikuo-kun, are you alright?", Kana asked him. Seemed like she noticed his distressed mood.

"A~h, Kana-chan, yes, I'm alright.", he said before his eyes moved back to the girl on the bench.

Kana followed his gaze and saw what Rikuo was looking at.

"Nee, Rikuo, do you want something from Moji-senpai*?", she asked him.

"Moji-senpai?"

"Yes, that's the girl you're looking at. The one sitting on the bench.", Kana told him.

"No, I just thought that I've met her before. I think I mistook her for someone else.", he replied to her earlier question.

"I see."

"I heard that she's kind of popular with the senpais. If you want something from her, then you'll have a hard time.", Maki said from behind him.

She had heard the conversation of her two friends and wanted to participate in it, too.

"I don't want anything from her, I just mistook her for someone else.", he repeated himself.

Maki looked like she didn't believe him and gave a knowing grin.

"I didn't knew that you were the shy type, Rikuo-kun.", she said before turning back to Torii and their earlier conversation.

"Like I said, I...", but he couldn't continue since Kiyotsugu cut him short with his newest news he got on his website.

Enthusiastically he placed his laptop in front of his friends and told them about it.

"You see, I've received a lot of messages that tell that they saw a girl fight with some weird beings that could have been yokai. They even described the person very detailed and one of them even tried to draw her. That person uploaded his picture to my website. Here, see. He called her the 'Bloodstained Girl'.", he told them while showing the quite good picture.

"Doesn't she look familiar?", he asked them.

They all looked on the screen and their eyes widened.

"She looks just like Moji-senpai.", Kana said.

"But why did he call her 'Bloodstained Girl'? It's kinda creepy.", Maki asked him.

"That's a good question, Maki-kun. And the answer to this question will be our next project.", Kiyotsugu exclaimed.

Everyone was surprised. Normally he would go after some random information about any yokai but instead he wanted to discover something human related? Is the world doomed?

"It seems that this 'Bloodstained Girl' somehow attracts yokai or else I wouldn't have received over 50 messages about one yokai fighting girl. That's why if we find the real 'Bloodstained Girl' we might be able to meet a yokai.", he said.

Ah, that was the reason. The world still has some time before its final day.

That was just like Kiyotsugu, whatever he did, firstly he thought about yokai.

"Well, since we have a picture of how she looks, we can start to find girl who look like her and aske them about joining our club. That way we'll be able to meet several yokai.", he said.

"Don't you think that it's going a little to far to ask that girl to join us? I mean, she might have a reason to fight those beings, yokai or not.", Maki told her 'leader'.

"Well, it doesn't matter. She can still go on with her buisness with them while we finally met them for real.", he replied.

"You really are an egoist.", Maki said in a low voice so that he couldn't hear her.

"Well, in our school there is a girl who looks like the girl in the picture. Moji Seika, she's a third year student. Who wants to ask her about the 'Bloodstained Girl'?", he asked, willing to ask her herself if nobody wanted to.

"I'll ask her.", Rikuo exclaimed while raising his hand.

"Nura-kun, I see that you are eager as ever. We'll leave her to you then. She's in class A.", he said before he turned back to the others.

Rikuo left the classroom to go and speak to his senpai. There were things that he wanted to confirm and if she really was the girl from last night, he'll tell her what his grandfather had told him.

* * *

><p>He stood in front of the classroom of the 3-A. He waited, unsure if he should just enter and ask for his senpai. That was when some girls from the class went past him.<p>

"Ano, I need to talk to Moji-senpai, is she here?", he asked them.

The two girls turned towards him before facing each other again.

"I'm sorry kohai**, but she always eats her bento outside. Either she's on the roof or in the yard.", one of them told him.

"Thank you very much.", he said while bowing.

He went off. Since he saw her in the yard, he went outside adn searched fro her. Soon he reached the bench he had seen her sitting on. Luckily, she was still sitting there, looking up at the sky.

"Moji-senpai?", he adressed her in order to get her attention.

Her head turned towards him. Now he could see that she indeed looked like the girl last night. It was dark but he had seen her purple eyes, a very weird eye colour for a human. Her black heir reached her shoulders just like in the picture and in his memory.

"Yes, what do you want from me?", she asked with a soft voice.

"Well, you see, my friends and I are in a club that investigated paranormal activities, especialy those involving yokais, and we found some information about a girl that is called the 'Bloodstained Girl'. One of the people who saw her, tried to draw her and the result looks a lot like you. That's why we are curious. Could it be that you...", he was cut short when she suddenly stood up.

"I'm sorry but I think you have the wrong person. Besides what is that 'Bloodstained Girl'? It's the first time I heard of it.", she said, a little offended by his imputation that she was someone who's called by that terrifying name.

"I...I'm sorry. It's just,... well...", he stuttered.

"Don't worry. I'm not mad at you. You're just curious, aren't you? That's why you ask something like that.", she said with a gentle smile attached to her face.

"I need to go now, classes are going to start soon.", she said before walking off, leaving him alone.

* * *

><p>When Rikuo returned to his class, he was greeted by Kiyotsugu who wanted to hear every detail he had attained from their senpai.<p>

"She said that it was the first time she heard of the 'Bloodstained Girl'.", he answered him.

"I see. That means that Moji-senpai wasn't her.", he said with his right hand on his chin.

"Well, at least we have one person less to ask. Let's do our best to find her everyone.", he exclaimed towards his 'fellow yokai hunters'.

"Yeah!", Shima replied.

The others just lifted their arms to show Kiyotsugu that they had listened this time.

* * *

><p>After school finished, Rikuo went home together with Tsurara and Kurata. They were almost at home when the eldest of the Sanban Garasu flew towards them.<p>

"Rikuo-sama.", Kuroumaru exclaimed.

"Kuroumaru, what's wrong?", Rikuo asked him.

"Rikuo-sama, we saw some weird yokai following a human girl. We don't know their intentions yet. I told Tosakamaru and Sasami to keep watch while I report.", he said serious as ever.

"Where have you seen them?", Rikuo asked.

"It was on the 5th street near the mall.", he answered.

Rikuo turned towards Tsurara and Aotabou. His face wore a serious look.

"Tsurara, Aotabou, I'm going to the 5th street and handle those yokai.", he said firmly before handing over his bag to Tsurara and heading off.

"Aaah! Rikuo-sama!", Tsurara exclaimed before handing his and her bag over to Aotabou.

"Ao, I'll follow Rikuo-sama.", she said before dashing off, too.

Aotabou who was left behind with their bags, sighed before scratching the back of his head. He returned to the main house where he met a ve~ry grumpy weasel yokai waiting for his 'student'.

"Yo, Itaku. Rikuo-sama won't be returning for a while. He took off to handle some yokai on the 5th street. Best thing to do is to wait for him to..."

A dust of wind pass him before he could finish his sentence.

"...return. Hmpf. You could have at least waited until I finished.", he mumbeled to himself before entering.

* * *

><p>Itaku had taken off to 5th street to give Rikuo a good lecture about leaving training without permission. He reached his destination after a few minutes of running. He stopped on top of a building that the humans call 'mall'. He looked around to find some hints of youki that might lead him to either Rikuo or the yokai Rikuo was looking for. Soon, he found what he was looking for. Faint traces of youki hung in the air and he followed these traces out of the crowded place into a more empty one. Looking around he tried to find those yokai he felt, but all he saw was a teenage girl who was probably on her way home.<p>

Suddenly, he felt the air change. It got colder and the intent to kill was all over the place.

'They're here.', he thought while turning his head to his right and to his left, searching for the source of this killing intent.

When his eyes fell on the human again his eyes widened. He could see how three yokai were approaching her without her notice. If he didn't interfere that human would be dead meat that's what he thought.

He started into a sprint and was just in time to block the attack one of those figures, clad in dark robes, unleashed.

"Who are you?", the one whose attack was blocked, asked him.

"That's my line.", Itaku replied coldly.

"You're in our way, get lost.", the other two said at the same time before bringing down their fists.

Itaku jumped away so that they hit the ground which gave in to their strength.

The girl, Itaku had protected, turned around due to the noise and stared wide eyed at the scene she saw.

"What... happened here?", she asked in a faint voice.

Itaku who was near enough to hear her, turned around and looked into the same face he saw last night. Surprised that he would see this face this soon again.

"You are..." As he spoke, he lowered his defense even though he always told Rikuo to not do such a foolish thing.

The three yokai used this chance to strike at him. Not able to dodge or block their attack in time, Itaku was thrown back towards some trees. He crashed with his back to the trunk of one of those. This trunk broke and he flew further backwards onto the next tree where he hit the ground after hitting the trunk as well. He spit out some blood that had assembeled inside of his mouth.

"Not bad.", he commented while standing up.

* * *

><p>The girl who had watched the whole scene stood still, not even moving an inch. Her black bangs covering her eyes from everyones sight. She stood there like she was waiting for something.<p>

'Something's off. Normally a human would start to scream when they see such a thing.', Itaku thought while approaching the three figures who seemed to be focused on their original prey.

"Hey big brother, do you see that? She's so scared that she can't even scream.", one said to starting to laugh.

"Don't underestimate her, lil' brother. She's not the most precious toy of our master without reason.", the one replied.

"What can a human actually do to a yokai? I don't understand what our master sees in her.", the third said.

'Master? Toy? What the heck are they talking about?' Itaku who had heard their conversation didn't understand what they were talking about.

"Well, our job is to make sure that she'll get more interesting for our master. Get ready, brothers.", one, probably the oldest, said.

They changed into fighting stances. Itaku did the same, waiting for their next attack. He was kind of enjoying it since he had to do something about his anger he got from waiting for a not returning Sandaime.

They lunged forward, but strangely, the one they attacked wasn't him but the girl standing a few meters to his left.

'Shit!', he thought, preparing himself for another sprint.

But what he saw next was something that disturbed him. The girl, the human girl, easily dodged the attacks of all three with a jump in the air a normal human wouldn't have accomplished. She landed on the fist of the one standing in the middle and used it as a way to climb his huge body. As soon as she reached his shoulder, she jumped again and hit the head with her feet. Hard. The yokai fell to the ground and whinced in pain.

The other two stared at her in disbelieve. Itaku did the same. How can a normal human do such damage to a yokai?

"So, who's next?" They heard a cold voice asking for her next prey.

"What did you do to our brother?", the one on her right asked.

"Nothing much. I just hit his head at his temple.", she stated like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"You're going to pay for this.", the two groaled before attaking her again.

She waited for them in a lazy stance and did the same with them like before. She hit one at the neck so that he lost his concious and the other was thrown over by her.

Itaku stared at the fight with wide eyes. He couldn't understand how a human girl could handle full fledged yokai.

* * *

><p>Soon the fight was over and the girl turned towars Itaku. She looked coldly at him before approaching him.<p>

He took a defensive stance. She just walked past him and bend down to get her bag of which she had led go. She turned back to him.

"You're alright?", she asked him with disinterest clearly evident in her voice.

"If my wellbeing doesn't interest you, don't ask.", he replied.

She somehow looked surprised by his reaction before a smirk made its way on her face.

"You're a honest yokai, aren't you.", she said.

They stared at each other for a while until two other yokai joined them.

"Hey, Itaku, what happened here?", Rikuo in his night form asked.

"Nothing much. Those three tried to do something to her but...", Itaku started.

"Oh, I see, so you defeated them.", Rikuo finished his sentence in an easy going tone.

"No."

"What?"

"I didn't defeated them. She did it on her own, I was just a bystander.", Itaku corrected.

Unable to believe what he just said, Rikuo and Tsurara turned towards the girl who was still standing at the same spot before they arrived.

Rikuo's eyes widened when he not only saw the uniform of his school but also the face of his senpai.

"Moji. What are you doing here?", he asked her surprised.

"You know me?", she asked him slightly surprised.

"You somehow seem different than before.", Rikuo said.

"What do you mean, Rikuo-sama?", Tsurara who finally had a chance to say something, asked him.

"This is Moji Seika. She goes to our school, Tsurara. But she seems different than during break.", he told her before turning back to her.

"What is going on here?", he asked seriously.

"So we go to the same school, huh? No wonder that you know who I am, or rather who she is.", Seika replied.

" 'She'?", this time Itaku asked.

"Yeah, 'she'."

"What do you mean by that?", again Rikuo.

"Don't know either. All I know is that I am her and a whole different person."

This was the last thing she said before leaving them alone.

"Where are you going?", Rikuo asked her.

"Home."

And with that she turned into a corner and disappeared from their sight. The three yokai looked into the direction she disappeared into.

"So it was her after all.", Rikuo stated.

"Who was who?", Tsurara asked since she wasn't present earlier this day.

"Have you heard about the 'Bloodstained Girl'?", he asked her.

"Yes, some humans in class spoke about someone called by that name.", she answered.

"It seems that this 'Bloodstained Girl' is Moji after all. But why didn't she say so earlier?", he asked no one in particular.

"Maybe because of the same reason as you don't tell anyone that you're quarter yokai.", Itaku said.

Rikuo looked at him.

"Maybe."

Silence fell upon them before...

"Well then, Rikuo. I haven't talked to you about 'that'.", Itaku said in a dangerous voice.

" 'That'?"

"HOW DARE YOU JUST DISAPPEAR IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAINING WITHOUT SAYING A WORD!", Itaku shouted.

Rikuo sweatdropped. He tried to calm the furious yokai down.

"Now, now, I'll explain to you..."

"DON'T COME LIKE THAT NOW, RIKUO. I'm going to make you walk through hell during training in order to catch up with the things you missed while you were in school.", he said in a low voice.

* * *

><p>They returned to the main house where the two male yokai continued with their training in the dojo underneath. One could hear the rough treatment Itaku gave Rikuo. The inhabitants sweatdropped with every shake the mansion made, pitying their Sandaime.<p>

In another room, Nurarihyon was drinking his tea which was served by his daughter-in-law.

"My, it seems that they're going all out.", Wakana said.

"Seems like it.", Nurarihyon agreed before putting his cup back on his lips.

* * *

><p>* senpai is a term used by younger students to adress the older students<p>

** kohai is a term used by older students refering to their juniors


	3. Dissociative Identity Disorder

**3. Dissociative Identity Disorder**

Rikuo was lying on his futon in his room, clad in his yukata. He looked at the ceiling and thought about the things he had learned about his senpai.

'First, she's 100% human. Second, she can fight and defeat yokais. Third, she behaves differently when she fights. Forth, she said that she's Moji-senpai and a different person. Fifth, Itaku said that the yokais referd to her as the 'toy of their master'.'

His brows moved into a frown and he swung to his side. His hand where clutched over his head.

"Aww, I don't get it. What's the meaning behind all this?", he asked in frustration.

"Ho~h, having fun, Rikuo?", he heard a voice beside him say.

Rikuo stopped his musings and sat up to face the owner of the voice.

"Jii-chan! What are you doing here?", he asked his grandfather.

Nurarihyon blew out some smoke before looking back at his grandson.

"I heard from Tsurara that you met the one who was causing the uproar in town.", he said.

Rikuo nodded before he lowered his head. His grandfather catched that movement and looked confused at the young head.

"What's wrong, Rikuo? You seem disturbed by something."

"Yeah,... ."

And so Rikuo started to explain to his grandfather what was concerning him. He told him about Moji Seika and her encounter with the yokais. He told him the things he already knew about her and about the difference between the girl who beat up yokais and his senpai.

* * *

><p>"I see. It really is strange. But doesn't humans have a term that describes someone with different personalities?", he asked himself with his hand resting on his chin.<p>

"I don't remember, but she might suffer from it and her second personality seems to like to be voilent."

Rikuo was deep in thought. He, too, thinks that Seika was someone with two personalities.

Silence fell upon them and neither of them moved an inch.

"Well, that means that you have to look out for her since it seems that she doesn't care who her opponent is. It could get dangerous for her.", Nurarihyon told his grandson while stretching. Afterwards, he left Rikuo alone in his room.

He sat on the floor and thought about the happenings of the last night, again.

When he came to no solution, he decided that he could get dressed for school already. After dressing himself, he walked out of his room and towards the grand hall where he thought his grandfather would be. He still had to talk to him.

* * *

><p>When he reached the grand hall, only a few yokai were present. In one corner the smaller yokai were having fun drinking sake. In another corner Kurotabou and Aotabou were having a match, again. And finally, the last one in the room, sitting near the wall on the right side, was Zen, his sworn brother.<p>

"Zen-kun, good morning.", Rikuo greeted him while approaching.

Zen who had been in thoughts about who knows what, opened his eyes and looked in Rikuo's direction.

"Oh, Rikuo, good morning.", he replied with a grin on his face.

"Is your training progressing?", he asked him.

Rikuo looked at him and nodded. "Yeah, Itaku gave me today off since he had to do something for Akagappa. Normaly he would be really mad at this but he means that I'm progressing faster than he anticipated, so..."

"I see."

Zen's face got more serious and the atmosphere around him had changed from a cheerful one to a cold one.

"You're alright, Zen-kun?", Rikuo asked him since he noticed the change in his mood.

Zen who had closed his eyes, opened them again and looked at the Sandaime with a serious look ffitting the air he emitted.

"There are those rumours that a human is defeating yokais, and strong ones, too. I heard that you and that weasel yokai met that person. Is it true that that human..."

"Yeah. Seems like she's really fighting with yokais from every clan. But it seems that she only attacks those who attacked her first.", Rikuo answered.

Zen looked at him in silence.

"What are you planing on doing, Rikuo?", he then asked.

"Huh?"

"I mean, you can't just let a human do as he pleases, just because he's a human.", Zen said.

"Well, I still don't know how to act in this situation since she's a human we can't just act like we would if she were a yokai. Furthermore, she doesn't seem to remember her acts, at least part of her doesn't.", Rikuo told him.

"Wait 'she'? The human who defeats yokais easily, is a girl?", Zen exclaimed rather shocked.

"Yeah, I think I refered to th human as 'she'.", Rikuo said.

"I see. Can't underestimate women.", Zen whispered the last part, though Rikuo still heard him and sweatdropped.

* * *

><p>Suddenly, a light lit up in Rikuo's head.<p>

'Of course, Zen-kun would know about it if it was something health related.', he thought.

"Eto, Zen-kun? Can I ask you something?", he asked his sworn brother.

"Yeah."

"Do you now something that causes a person to have more personalities?", Rikuo asked.

"It's called Dissociative Identity Disorder or short DID.", Zen answered.

"Does people who suffer from Dissociative Identity Disorder, also have memory loss for the time the other personality is active?", Rikuo asked further.

"Yeah, it's most common. But why do you want to know?", Zen said.

"That human we talked about, it seems that she suffers from this.", Rikuo told him before he was interupted by Tsurara who was searching for him.

"Rikuo-sama, it's time for school.", she said.

"Thanks, Yuki-Onna.", he said before saying goodbye to Zen and leaving the room.

On their way to school, Rikuo repeated the things he knew about Seika again.

'First, she's 100% human. Second, she can fight and defeat yokais. Third, she behaves differently when she fights. Forth, she said that she's Moji-senpai and a different person. Fifth, Itaku said that the yokais referd to her as the 'toy of their master'. Lastly, she might suffer from Dissociative Identity Disorder.'

After finishing his mental list, Rikuo sighed.

'This seems to get more complicated.'


	4. New Member of the Investigation Squad

**Sorry for the long (very long) wait... I really am sorry for the delay, but I was in a slump, then I got busy with school...  
>But now I finally was able to finish chapter 4, though it's not as long as I hoped it would be...<br>Well, enjoy this chapter and it might happen that I'll need some time before I upload new chapters to this story...  
>Please, bear with me *bows deeply and hits head on the ground*<strong>

**Now on with the story...**

* * *

><p><strong>4. New Member of the Investigation Squad<strong>

'How did it end like this?', Rikuo asked himself mentaly while watching Kiyotsugu and Seika talk about their newest project.

He thought back to the happenings a few minutes ago.

* * *

><p><em><strong>- Flashback -<strong>_

* * *

><p><em>Kiyotsugu was talking about some random yokai again and about how their newest project wasn't progressing well. Like always, nobody really listened to him. That's when the door to the room, in which they usually held their meetings, opened. Surprised by their unusual disturbtion, they all turned towards the door to see who the source was.<em>

_Rikuo's eyes widened at the sight. In the doorframe stood their senpai, Moji Seika._

_She quickly scanned the room and when her eyes fell on Rikuo, she directly walked to his side._

_"About the thing you said the other day... that you and your friends research on paranormal activities... I'd like to join that club.", Seika said without hesitation clear in her eyes._

_Almost everyone present in the room stared at her in disbelief. Their mouth were hanging wide open and their eyes were in danger of falling out of their sockets. But of course, Kiyotsugu was delightened by her decision to join them, even though he doesn't know why so sudden. But as long as he can awaken her love for yokai further on, he doesn't care. Lucky him._

_But Rikuo wasn't that laid back. After all, he knew that she was targetted by some yokai and that her joining the Investigation Squad, the possibility to encounter a yokai during their hunt rises, although it already is high with Rikuo tagging along._

_"Of course you can join our club, Moji-senpai. The more people we are, the higher are the chances to meet yokai.", Kiyotsugu exclaimed after he literally jumped to her side._

_Seika and the others sweatdropped at his enthusiasm but didn't say anything._

_Kiyotsugu then started to tell her about their newest project and Rikuo was left to his thoughts._

* * *

><p><em><strong>- Flashback End -<strong>_

* * *

><p>'If Kiyotsugu-kun knew that his newest project was a success... The yokai-fighting girl really joined our club.' He sighed. 'This is going to be a pain.'<p>

* * *

><p>-Nura Mansion, same time-<p>

* * *

><p>A certain yokai waited. He waited for a certain boy. Certain boy was supposed to stay at home but left after all. He left to go to school, in order to observe that girl. But he didn't knew that that girl was making the observation easier but their lives much more difficult.<p>

An impatient Itaku was sitting in the sakura tree beside the mansion of the Nura Gumi. Normally, he wouldn't be as impatient as he was now, but with the approaching fight with Nue in less than a year and the newly appeared incident with that girl, he just couldn't get over the feeling of being pissed. And this feeling fueld his state of being impatient.

'How long does Rikuo intend to stay away from his home?', he asked himself almost snapping when he still couldn't see said persons figure.

'When he gets back, he's going to experience how true agony feels like!' Itaku, being impatient and pissed as he was today, couldn't help himself but to take it out on the person/yokai he was supposed to train. But it couldn't hurt, could it?

* * *

><p>The sun was already setting and Itaku still waited for a certain boy to return home. He had passed the state of being pissed a long time ago and was now at the stage of being prepared to kill the source of his damn long day, namely Rikuo.<p>

He still sat in the tree and strained his eyes to see the figure of said boy but wasn't able to do so, since, well, it just didn't appear. His eyes began to twitch and he swore to himself that he would drag Rikuo to hell and back just to teach him that letting him wait for too long wasn't a good idea.

After several more minutes that felt like hours to Itaku, finally, he could make out a figure in the streets that had the same features as his company to hell.

He sat up and observed the approaching figure and soon he could identify it as Rikuo. He was just about to jump out of the tree and run towards him before dragging him by his collar into the dojo beneath the Nura Gumi mansion, when he noticed other figures following him.

His eyebrow began to twitch again at what he saw. Following Rikuo, there were his human friends. For what purpose they came, he didn't know, but he knew that with them inside the mansion, he could forget about training.

He jumped out of the tree and landed smoothly on the ground. He was standing in the shadows and watched Rikuo and his friends enter the mansion. He scanned each of them and his eyes widened when he recognized one, not as Rikuo's friend he probably met earlier, but as the person who fought against that weird yokai last night. He saw the girl of whom he thought was as ordinary as the change between day and night. And truthfully, he didn't thought that he would meet her this soon again and certainly not under these circumstances.

He followed her movements with his eyes and when her head turned his way and her gaze met his, he thought that he saw some kind of recognition in them but pushed it into the back of his mind when she just turned her head back forward.

He still watched them when they entered the house and were lead to the usual room where they were staying.

* * *

><p>When everything settled down, Itaku approached Rikuo and asked him about what this, the sudden visit of his friends, means.<br>"Itaku-san, I'm sorry. Kiyotsugu-kun didn't give up on coming here, so I...", Rikuo, still in his day form explained.

"You've got to be kidding me! You know that we don't have time for this.", he told the smaller boy in front of him.

"I know. I'm sorry.", Rikuo apologized.

Still enraged, Itaku tried to calm himself down so that he wouldn't do something stupid, like really drag his 'student' to hell. When his head was able to process things rationally again, he remembered that he had another thing he wanted to know from Rikuo.

"Hey, Rikuo, that girl we met the other day, why is she here?", he asked.

Rikuo who finally turned into his night form, looked him in the eyes and a serious expression was placed on his face.

"Today she came into the club room and asked if she might join. Of course, Kiyotsugu agreed. He thought that the more we are, the higher are the chances to encounter a yokai.", Rikuo told him.

"I see. He couldn't be that wrong about that. At least when we consider how many encounters she already had with yokais.", Itaku stated.

"Yeah. I've got a bad feeling about this.", Rikuo said before turning away ready to walk off. But he was stopped by Itsku's hand on his shoulder. He turned around and faced him again with a questioning look on his face.

"You didn't forget about today's training, did you.", was all Itaku said.

Rikuo, seeing the hidden anger in Itaku's eyes, gulped and smiled nervously.

"Of course not. I was just about to go to the dojo.", he said.

Itaku smirked.

"I see." With these words, the two of them made their way to the torturing training Itaku had in for Rikuo.


	5. Encounter

**_Sorry for the long wait but I just don't get to write 'cause my inspiration got lost somewhere inside my head...  
>Bad inspiration, very bad inspiration.<em>**

**_Well, hope you don't kill me in the near future (or else my tombstone will have 'Killed because she couldn't update fast enough' written on it xP)_**

* * *

><p><strong>5. Encounter<strong>

Just like the days before, Itaku walked aggrivated throught the main house of Nura Gumi. And just like the days before his anger was directed towards the Third heir, since he again has skipped training this morning with the apology that he really had to go to school.

'Damn that Rikuo. He was the one who asked me to train him before the fight with Nue,' Itaku thought, cursing the younger yokai.

"Haa~tshi..." Rikuo sneezed and interrupted Kiyotsugu's talk about their next activity, since none of them was able to get some valuable information about the 'Bloodstained girl' and since no new incidents concerning the mysterious girl reached Kiyotsugu's ears, he decided that it was time to continue with their real targets, the yokais.

"Are you alright, Nura-san?" Seika asked her kohai worried.

"Don't worry, Moji-senpai. I'm fine, thank you," Rikuo answered with his usual smile in place.

'Itaku must be mad at me for skipping morning training again,' he thought, mentaly sweatdropping.

"Let's continue from where I was interrupted. I've planned a trip to Shizuoka for this week-end where we will be visiting several temples from Kagutsuchi*, the god of fire," he exclaimed with as much enthusiasm as always.

"Kagutsuchi? I thought that he wanted to hunt yokai and not to study the mythology abbout a god." Maki whispered to Torii and Kana who nodded in agreement.

Seika raised her hand for a question. Kiyotsugu who wasn't used to questions from anyone except Shima, beamed happily at her.

"Yes, Moji-senpai, what do you want to know," he asked.

"Well, I thought that this club was specialized in yokais, I didn't knew that you study gods and such as well," she said, rather than question.

"Good observation, senpai. Indeed, normaly, we do research about yokai of any kind, but we can't just focus on yokais. There are gods who turned evil, too. And although it's just my theory, I think that yokai have roots with these gods**, thus we have to know about them, too," he said proudly.

"And Kagutsuchi is one of those gods?" Kana asked him which earned her a full explanation why he thinks that the god of fire is one of the origin of yokais.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile in the mansion, Itaku was starting to tick of the female yokai who had to do their chores. Kejoro was the first one to snap which ended in a one-sided verbal fight with the weasle yokai.<p>

"I know that you're here because Rikuo-sama asked you to train him, but that doesn't mean that you can get in the way of our duties. So if you were so kind as to leave the house for at least three hours, we'll be finish with everything at that time," she ended her 'scolding'.

Itaku, being bored and all, decided that it wouldn't hurt if he were to walk through Ukiyoe town by himself, plus he wouldn't get in the way of the main house staff.

He casually walked out of the gate. During the time he stayed here in the middle of humans, he had learned not to show off to much, things like using the front door instead of jumping over the wall.

Itaku walked through Ukiyoe town without a real destination in mind. He even passed the schoolgates of Ukiyoe Middle School and when he would have glanced inside he would have seen Rikuo with his friends stepping out of the building.

* * *

><p>The students talked lively, more accurate, Kiyotsugu was doing all the talk and the rest pretended to listen to him. When they reached the gates, Itaku had already passed the gates in the opposite direction from the way Rikuo used to get home, Seika said goodbye to them.<p>

"I'll see you tomorrow during club activity," she said before going in the opposite direction from everyone else.

Seika lost in her thoughts, walked in the direction of her home. She passed several shops which were still open and remembered that she needed to buy food. She entered the next market and looked for the things she needed.

When she was finish, she exited the building with two bags in hand.

'This should do for a while,' she thought and didn't see that the person in front of her stopped in his tracks. She bumped against him.

"Watch where you're going," that person said.

"So... sorry, I didn't look where I was going," she apologized.

"Oh, it's you," she heard the male voice say.

Turning her face upwards to face the person, she looked into brown eyes. She studied the boy... man in front of her. His hair was messy, short and black in color. He also wore a bandana on his forehead. His height was average but he still was taller than Seika.

"I'm sorry, but... do we know each other?" Seika asked him.

Itaku had walked a lot, since he went out. But even then he didn't even see a single of the young yokai boy he had intended to look for.

'Damn you, Rikuo. Where the heck are you?' He thought furious, though nothing of his emotions could be seen on his face. Then suddenly, something or rather someone bumped into his back.

'Great, I'm that distracted that I can't even sense someone who's approaching.'

He turned around.

"Watch where you're going!" He said.

"So... sorry, I didn't look where I was going," a female voice told him.

Itaku looked down on the shorter girl and recognized her as the girl from THAT night.

"Oh, it's you," he said without thinking.

Itaku could feel how the girl was looking at him as to remember who he was. Then finally, he remembered that Rikuo said something about more personalities and one not knowing what the other does or even if there was an other.

"I'm sorry, but... do we know each other?" The girl asked him.

'Great and what do I say now? It's not like me to not think before acting.'

While Itaku stood there trying to figure something helpful out, a man came running straight at him. They collided and the force caused Itaku to fall over.

'What's wrong with the people bumping into me? Am I a human magnet or something?' He thought unnerved.

While he thought that he didn't notice that the impact had led to him to lose his footing. He fell forward directly onto THAT girl and brought her down to the ground with him.

When he finally realized the change in his position, it was already to late. For him, at least.

He lay on top of a girl, a rather pretty one at that, and for some unknown reason their lips were pressed together.

In this rather embarassing position, he looked her in her purple eyes which showed signs of surprise, shock and embarassment.

When Itaku finally decided to lift himself up, almost everyone near them stared at the two who had kissed just moments ago.

"Sorry," he said before he stood up and helped her up.

Seika took his had in silence and even after she stood on her feet again, she didn't say a word. The boy who laid on top of her just moments ago, turned around and left her standing on the street.

* * *

><p>After the first shock, Seika was able to get home without any further accidents. It was already dark outside. She sat in the bathtub and let the hot water sooth her body, though her mind needed it more than anything else. Her right hand moved to her face and her fingers touched her lips softly while dropplets fell back into the tub.<p>

'That was my first kiss...' she thought a little sad that she shared something as precious as her first kiss with a stranger. She dived into the water and stayed there until her lungs cried for oxygen. Taking a deep breath, she leaned her head against the wall behind her and tried to get the pictures of the boy out of her head.

'He looked somewhat familiar but I can't put my finger on where I met him.' Her thoughts cricled around this one question until she decided that it was futile and enjoyed the rest of her bath to the fullest.

* * *

><p>The sakura tree weeped in the passing wind which blew some petals past the weasel yokai who stared at the moon. No one could say what the Tono yokai was thinking about but everyone could say that it must be something very important.<p>

* * *

><p>* really does exist in japanese mythology<p>

** I made that up, but if there are such theories, I didn't know


	6. Off to Shizuoka

_**I'm soooooo~ sorry that it took me so log (2 years O.O) to update but please don't behead be or there won't be any updates anymore in the future. For everyone who still follows this story, you have my gratitude for sticking with me ol' lad that can't even update faster *bows so deep that hell needs to repair a street, if they have something like streets down there***_

_**Well then, I hope you enjoy the following chapter and stick with me even if the next chapter takes a long time again (hopefully not 2 years O.o again)**_

* * *

><p><strong>6. Off to Shizuoka<strong>

The Shinkansen arrived at the station while a voice told everyone over a speaker that they arrived at the Shizuoka main station. A group of eight teens exited the train and went towards the northern exit*.

"Fewh~, man I'm tired. Why did we have to depart at three in the morning?" Maki asked no one in particular.

"Well, of course so that we have more time to do some research, Maki-kun," an ever eager Kiyotsugu answered.

They walked into town and searched for their hotel. Or at least thhey hoped it would be a hotel since it was Kiyotsugu who organised everything they weren't sure if they might end up in a really old building with a mysterious background.

"When are we there?"

"Just a few meters, it's a very lovely little hotel on the edge of town." Kiyotsugu told them.

They walk for almost half an hour before finally arriving at their destionation.

"Why the hell didn't we just take the bus?" Maki asked their 'leader' annoyed.

"That's because there are no buses that drive anywhere near here. You ask why?"

"No not really." Maki mumbled to Torii while waving her hand in front of her dismissingly. But Kiyotsugu either didn't notice or didn't care.

"That's because it's said to be haunted by the spirit of an old lady that died here decades ago." He finished his unwanted explanation.

"And you really want us to stay here for a whole week?" Maki asked him in disbelieve and anger.

After more verbal fights and and almost physical one that was luckily prevented by Rikuo they entered their hotel for the first time.

It was a small but cozy hotel and if it didn't have that rumour around it, it probably would be a good-visited hotel. But due to the rumour they were the only customers right now or so the owner said.

"We occasionaly get some guests who want to see for their own if the rumours are true or not. So even with the few customers we get, we can still manage somehow," he told them.

The hotel only had double rooms so there was a little problem with dividing the rooms.

"Well, this sucks. Either we stuff three of us in one room and have the last one to have a room for him- or herself or we have to make a girl share a room with a boy." Maki stated.

True, they were short for one boy/girl or both.

"That reminds me, why didn't Oikawa-kun or Kurata-kun come along?" Kiyotsugu asked.

"They said that they couldn't something about helping their family or doing some really important buisness." Rikuo answered.

The truth was that Rikuo insisted that they don't come along since it was to dangerous to let a yokai anywhere near a god. When they argued that he himself was a yokai he just said that most of the time he was human and therefore a complete different story.

'It was a hassle to convince them to stay behind but now maybe I should have let them come along.' Rikuo thought.

"Well, either way we still have to settle this room-sharing-issue." Seika said.

"Senpai's right. So do you boys mind occupying a room with the three of you?" Torii asked them.

"Not really." Rikuo answered.

"It would be really cramped though." Shima kind of complained.

"Oh come on Shima be a man and suck it." Maki told him.

"But..."

"I don't mind sharing a room with a boy. I'm used to it since I always shared one with my little brother when he was still..." Seika suddenly grew silent.

Somehow the mood felt heavy and nobody knew what to say or do to lift it.

"Well if that's the case we should let Rikuo and Senpai share a room." Kiyotsugu exclaimed.

"Eh? Why me?" Rikuo asked shocked.

"Well if it was Nura I think we can trust him to not do some weird stuff to her, right?" Maki asked Torii who nodded in reply.

"But... I don't think it's a good idea to let them share a room." Kana suddenly interrupted.

"Why's that Ienaga-kun?" Kiyotsugu asked.

"Well, uhm..." she stuttered.

"You don't have to worry Ienaga-san. I'm sure that nothing will happen. Rikuo's far too kind to do 'something'." Seika smiled reassuringly at Kana.

There were no more protests.

"Well then, since that's settled now lets put our stuff in our rooms and get going." Kiyotsugu said.

* * *

><p>- With Kana and Yura -<p>

* * *

><p>"Nee, Ienaga-san, are you okay?" Yura asked her friend that was unpacking her things with a dark cloud hanging above her head.<p>

"Yeah, I'm alright. It's going to be alright, right? I mean he wouldn't do anything to Senpai, right? She's older than us. And pretty. And probably has a lot of admirers..." Kana kept on mumbling to herself.

'I wonder if that's the work of a yokai. Though I don't feel any youki here.' Yura thought to herself.

* * *

><p>- With Seika and Rikuo -<p>

* * *

><p>"Haaaatchiiii!" Seika and Rikuo sneezed at the same time.<p>

"You okay Nura-san. You're not catching a cold, are you?" Seika asked her kohai**.

"No, I don't think so. What about you Moji-senpai?" Rikuo asked in return.

"Nope, I feel fine. Thanks for worrying though," she replied before turning back to unpacking.

* * *

><p>After everyone was finished unpacking they met up at the entrance of their hotel.<p>

"Well then minna, since everyone is finally here let me tell you something about the God of Fire, Kagutsuchi. He was born as the son of the goddess Izanami but burned her when she gave birth to him. His father Izanagi beheaded him with his sword and cut him to eight pieces. Those pieces turned into eight volcanoes and his blood that dripped off his fathers sword, Ame no Ohabari, created a numbers of deities such as Watatsumi or Kuraokami." He finished his little mythology lesson.

"So now that we know that a god can create more deities out of their body there is one question that's left to answer. Can yokai too be created by them? In order to answer this question we came here to search for more information about Kagutsuchi's legend."

And with these words he lead them towards a secluded place where he thought he would find information about Kagutsuchi. And he found a shrine but it wasn't like he expected.

"What's with this run down place?" Maki asked aloud what everyone was thinking.

"Hum... weird, I got a mail that said that here should be the shrine we look for. But this can't possibly be it..." Kiyotsugu trailed off.

"No it seems it is Kagutsuchi's shrine." Yura stated.

"How do you know, Yura-chan?" Kana asked her friend.

Yura pointed towards an old board that withered away over the years. On this board was written_: 'Kagutsuchi Shrine'_

"Oh..." came the simultaneous answer from everyone.  
>"Well then minna, let's go inside and look for clues," Kiyotsugu exclaimed before marching off towards the entrance.<p>

"I have a bad feeling about this," Maki told Torii and Kana who both shuddered as a cold breeze blew past them as if to underline the omnious atmosphere.

* * *

><p>- Meanwhile on the way to Shizuoka -<p>

* * *

><p>'Damn that Rikuo, going off on a frield trip with his human friends when he has some training to do.' A very angered weasel yokai jumped through the trees in order to reach his destination.<p>

'If it wasn't for Yuki-Onna I would have searched form him high and low in Ukiyoe. He's definetly going to be punished for not telling me.'

Suddenly there was a blast of air that made Itaku loose his balance while in mid-air and forced him to the ground. He reached for his weapons on his back while turning around and faced the one that was responsible for that blast. A lone figure walked into his field of vision and he knew that that person was a yokai who looked like a human man in his early twenties.

"What do we have here, a weasle yokai out here in this woods? I thought that alll of you left this place ages ago," his deep voice rang through the clearing thy stood in.  
>"I'm not from here," was all Itaku said before spreading his legs apart preparing himself for a fight.<p>

His opponent lifted his right hand in a gesture that was meant to calm him but didn't have any effect.

"I'm not here for a fight weasle. Just wanted to warn you," he said. Itaku raised an eyebrow at that.

"Warn me?" he asked.  
>"Yeah, I wanted to warn you and that other yokai you were with. You should stop hanging around that girl my master took a liking to. If not I can't guarantee that you won't die," he said before vanishing in a gust of air.<p>

Itaku stared at the place that yokai occupied only seconds ago and was more than intruged about that 'master'.

'This is the second time. Just what is up with that girl.' As he thought about the girl he met in the park and then in the streets and about the thing that happened at that time his face burned bright red. 'What the heck is wrong with me?' he thought while shaking his head to rid himself from his thoughts and the redness in his face. As soon as he thought he was calm enough he continued his travel to Shizuoka now with an addition to his goal of scolding the Sandaime.

* * *

><p>- In the Kagutsuchi Shrine -<p>

* * *

><p>"It's so dusty here. If this really is the shrine of the fire god Kagutsuchi why does nobody take care of it," Maki complained for the upmost time since she could have taken a stroll through the city instead of being here walking through a dusty old place.<p>

"It sure is strange, isn't it?" Torii added to her friends statement.

"There are places like this too. Even though the god is a strong one and ought to be worshipped there are times when the people just stop coming and the shrine will be abandonded like this one," Seika replied to her two kohais with a sympathetic smile. She knew that they wanted to do other things than search this place for something that wasn't even here. She sighed while following their enthusiastic leader through the corridors.

"Cheer up, Maki-kun, Torii-kun. I'm sure our search will bear fruit and we will finally have some clues about the origins of some yokai and maybe of 'his' as well," Kiyotsugu exclaimed as per usual.

They reached what looked like the archive of the shrine and they entered after a quick exclamaition of joy from Kiyotsugu and Shima who just went along with his friend.

"Now let's get back to business. We'll search this archive for any information that concerns the god Kagutsuchi and yokai."

"Say, Kiyotsugu-kun, are we even allowed in here? Even though this place was most probably abandoned doesn't mena that we can just trespass," Seika told him her concerns.

"Don't worry Mori-senpai, I'm prepared for this. I asked the monk that was responsible for this shrine and he said that as long as we don't destroy any documents we're allowed to do as we please," he answered his upperclassman.

And with that they started to look through the old papers and books and scrolls that were stored in this room. After the first few seconds Maki only sat there and watched the others while Torii would show her some of the scrolls with the funnier content. Yura who knew how to work through old documents was in her element and Kiyotsugu and Shima watched her in amazement. After an exclamaition that he'll definetly find something Kiyotsugu literally bounced on the papers before him and told Shima to do the same. Seika and Rikuo worked in the other corner away from the others and talked lightly about some of the contents while Seika saw at the corner of her eyes that Kana slowly shifted her way to Rikuo's left side.

'I see, so that's why she was against me sharing a room with him.' she thought while giving a small smile in her direction which resulted in her turning light red.

It took them a few hours to work through all of the papers but at the end they found nothing.

"I knew it this whole trip to this shrine was just a waste of time," Maki exclaimed annoyed that they wasted their time here instead of having fun in the city.

"It can't be helped Maki-chan but at least there were some really interessting tales there," Seika tried to calm her.

Kiyotsugu was a little down since their search turned out with nothing but since he was Kiyotsugu he overcame his little depression in record time and started to cheer the others up by saying that they still had six other days to find something concering the connection between gods and yokai.

"Well then let's return and rest for the day so that we can work even harder tomorrow," he said before leading his friends back to their hotel.

* * *

><p>On their way back, Rikuo noticed that they were followed by something in the trees and lett himself drift to the back of the group until he was far away enough to face who- or whatever was behind them.<p>

"Who's there?" he asked facing the dark treeline. As if on cue Itaku emerged from the trees and casually stalked towards his student and third heir of the Nura Gumi.

"Itaku!" Rikuo exclaimed surprised to see his teacher and friend out here when he thouhgt that the weasle yokai was back in Ukiyoe.

"What are you doing here? Is everything alright back home?" he asked a little wottied that something terrible might have happened while he was away.

"Don't worry, nothing has happened expect someone not mentioning that he'll be skipping training for a week," he said in a monotonous voice.

"Ahahahahaha... I'm sorry Itaku, I totally forgot to tell you." Rikuo scratched the back of his head while trying to apologize to his friend.

"Hmpf. Don't think that you'll get away with this. As soon as you're back your training will be a hundred times harder than it is now, so look forward to it," Itaku said somewhat amused about Rikuo's terrified face. But then his face got serious again and Rikuo lost his concern for his wellbeing as he saw that there was smething else on his friends mind.

"What's wrong Itaku?" he asked in his serious Sandaime voice.

"On my way here I came across a yokai. He suddenly appeared and told me that we should stay away from that girl," he told Rikuo.

"'That girl'? Do you mean Moji-senpai?" he asked.

"Yeah. At least I think they mean her since he said something about his master liking that girl."

"The yokai's in the park said something like that too, didn't they." Rikuo fell into deep thought. He was so deep in thought that he didn't notice the person approaching him from behind untli it was to late.

"Yo Rikuo-kun, what's wrong? Everyone was worried about you since you suddenly vanished," a female voice rang from behind him. Startled he jumped around and came face to face with Seika who peered into his eyes as if to see if something was troubling him.

"No... no, I'm alright senpai. I was just a little in thought and must have lost sight of everyone," he glanced back to the trees to see if Itaku had vanished but to his surprise he just leaned against a tree with his armes crossed over his chest. Seika followed his eyes and saw the man she bumped into the other day.

"It's you. Sorry for the other day I really should have wath´ched where I was going," she said to Itaku who just shrugged. Rikuo who didn't knew about their first or rather second encounter turned to his senpai.

"You know him Moji-senpai?"

"Yep, I bumped into him after school and then..." she trailed of at the end and averted her face from her kohai to hide her blush that spread across her cheeks. Rikuo looked from her to Itaku and saw that he too had averted his face from his view but he could have sworn that he saw a blush on the yokai's face.

A cough brought him back out of his musings of what exactly happened that made both of them this embarrassed. It was Seika.

"Well, we should hurry back before everyone starts to look for us. Nice to have met you again," she said towards Itaku before turning to the direction their hotel was supposed to be. Rikuo turned to Itaku and gave him a look that said that he wanted to talk to him later before following after Seika.

Itaku watched as the two disappeared. To his surprise, he followed that girl's movements with his eyes and even caught himself thinking that he swaying hips were the most attracting sight he had ever seen.

'What the heck am I thinking?' he shook his head before giving a last look into the direction they disappeard into before jumping into a tree and followed them. As soon as he caught up with them so that he could see them clearly he forced himself to not look at her.

* * *

><p>It was dark outside and everyone in the Investigation Squad was fast asleep, well everyone expect one particular Sandaime. He was sitting on the roof of the hotel he was currently residing in and waited for his companion to joing him for the talk that they had to postpone to a later time. His appearance has changed from brown-black to silver black hair that defies gravity, his eyes no longer the warm brown color that was the same as his mother's but instead a piercing crimson color. He also grew a few inches. He looked at the shining moon when he heard a light thump behind him indicating that someone has arrived.<p>

"I was waiting for you, Itaku," Rikuo said with a deep voice. He got no response from his friend who just approached him. Rikuo didn't intend to stand up so he indicated Itaku to sit down which he did.

"So, let's continue where we left off," he said.

"I told you everything that was important already. What we must do now is to confirm if he really meant your friend or not. And for the chance she is the one they mean what are you going to do?" Itaku said to the Sandaime who sat beside him stoically.

"You know, I have that feeling that tells me whatever happens here has something to do with Seika. But I don't really know what a yokai would want from her," he said.

"Well, she is pretty and most probably smart too. Not to forget that she can beat up yokai that are above the average... What?" While Itaku was pointing out all of Seika's good points Rikuo looked at him like the cheshire cat.

"You like her," he said with a grin on his face.

"No."

"Oh yes you do and you know what? I allow you to court her."

"As if I need your permission to do that..." a meaningfull look from Rikuo told Itaku that he had said something that confirmed the Sandaime's suspicion.

"... if I really wanted something from her that is," added Itaku who finally caught onto what his first answer implicated.

"Yeah sure~. But if she really is their target we can't let her be alone especially at night. Since I'm full during the day I'll leave watching her in that time to you. At night I can take that role since I already share a room with her," Rikuo said and to his amusement got a reaction from the weasle yokai that just got Itaku deeper into the hole he has started to dig for himself.

"You share a room with her? YOU?" he screamed hin shock. How could his friends leave a girl as pretty as that Seika, shit now he already uses her first name, ah whatever, be alone AT NIGHT with Rikuo. Of course when he is human he's responsible and would never lay a hand on someone who's against it, but AT NIGHT he's a yokai and more than just a flirt.

"What's wrong Itaku? Worried that I might lay a hand on your woman?" Rikuo teased him. He didn't get a reply.

"Don't worry. I won't do anything to her but if you really are that worried about her why don't you watch her at night to?" It was meant to tease Itaku further, he didn't think that his friend would utter the words he heard next:

"Fine, I'll watch her at day and at night. You go somewhere else so that I can be undisturbed while doing my duty," and with this words Itaku left the roof and looked for a place from where he could observe the sleeping Seika.

Rikuo who was now left alone just stared after Itaku with raised eyebrows before a smirk spread over his face. He turned back to the sight of a shining silver moon and took out the pipe he 'lent' from his grandfather.

* * *

><p>* I don't know what the station in real life looks like, so everything is made up. Also aplies to the city, 'cause I'm to lazy to do proper research<p>

** underclassmen


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